Teachers’ Thoughts: Popular Names of School-Aged Kids

Remember, like, a few years ago, every other boy was named Jason, and the girls were all named Brittany? -Pain, in Disney’s Hercules

I’m sure this happens in every generation, but it seemed to me that I had tons of kids at my school who all had the same names. Sometimes, that made it easier to remember their names (Oh, you’re one of the Evans!) and sometimes it seemed odd. (Wow, I didn’t realize Ezra was such a common name!)

I got some of my teacher friends to weigh in and tell me what they felt like the most common kinds of names at their schools are right now. So here are the results!

For boys:

The suffix -den. Examples are Aiden, Hayden, Brayden, Jaden, etc.

Other names that end in -en, -on, or -in. Examples are Justin, Carson, Cameron, Grayson, Finn, Austin, Jaylen, the list goes on.

Jack/Jackson. Not necessarily a shortening of the other, but related sounds for sure. Alternate spellings like Jax and Jaxson included.

Isaiah and Elijah. Unrelated histories, same Biblical origin.

“Traditional” boys names. Including last names as first names, are still prominent, such as George, William, Christopher, Michael, James, to name a few.

For girls:

M names. Such as Makayla, Mackenzie, Madison and all of their related possibilities.

Ella and Emma. Often used as part of double names as well.

Caroline. Maybe it’s because I live in North Carolina, but I know a ton of Carolines.

Katherine and Kaitlin. And all of the spellings and shortenings that that implies: Kathryn, Caitlin, Kate, Katie, Katelyn, Catherine, etc.

Another thing my teacher friends said is happening is waves of people just making up names. Not necessarily making up words (using punctuation and silent letters – Na’Ja, D’Andre, J’Keir) but combining syllables from two names to make on name (TyShawn, Devonte, Keyshawn), and using words that haven’t often been used as names before (Wisdom, Angel, Rainbow, Happy, Neveah – Heaven spelled backwards). I guess that leaves the floor wide open for creative types!

What are some names you feel like you see used often nowadays? Do you know several little girls named Norah? How about lots of little guys named Hudson?